If some Miami Heat fans had their way, Andrew Wiggins might be off the roster already. The Los Angeles Lakers appeared ready and willing to take him off their hands earlier this offseason.
The Heat kept him around for a reason, though. They probably know that he quietly holds the keys to whatever awaits them during the 2025-26 NBA season. And that’s true regardless of whether they plan to move forward with him or not.
Wiggins will either be a high-minute starter or a sought-after trade target.
First impressions can be deceiving, and Heat fans would be wise to remember that lesson and apply it to Wiggins. Considering that he and the No. 20 pick (later spent on potential draft steal Kasparas Jakučionis) served as the principal pieces of the return package for Jimmy Butler, expectations were up for Wiggins, and he fell well short of reaching them during his half-season(ish) in South Beach.
His shooting was erratic, his point production was all over the place, and he couldn’t help Miami find its footing during a first-round sweep at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Remember, though, the injury bug hit him hard—he missed half of Miami’s final 30 games—and he was having to navigate around a major midseason trade that saw him switch coasts, conferences, and locker rooms. That’s not intended to make excuses for him, but explanations often sound quite the same.
Wiggins is a good player. Not a great one, not a load-bearing star, but an above-average starter who adds value on both ends. When the Minnesota Timberwolves tasked him to be their savior, that plan was doomed from the start. Years later, though, when the Golden State Warriors sought him out to be a high-end complementary piece, he arguably became the second-most important player on their 2021-22 title team.
He is a top-shelf defensive stopper with the quickness to stay in front of guards and the length to bother big wings. He’s also an efficient tertiary scorer who might underwhelm on some nights but pleasantly surprise with a 25-plus-point outburst on others. In the end, his nightly allotment of points usually hovers in the high-teens—a fine number for someone who isn’t a first or second option.
The Heat just happen to have clear needs for what he brings, and they might quietly be ready to scale their way up this wide-open Eastern Conference. A top-four finish is within reach if everything breaks right, and he’d play a massively pivotal role in that kind of ascension.
If Miami winds up spinning its tires instead—the point guard position could be fatally flawed—then the Heat will hit the trade market with Wiggins again being central to their plans. Big-wing defenders who are even passable offensive players always have a market, plus his $28.2 million salary (which could be expiring depending his handling of a $30.2 million player option for 2026-27, per Spotrac) would almost certainly be needed to make the money work on any sort of blockbuster exhange.
One way or another, Wiggins will play an essential role.
